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Slammed Shut: Prosecutors End Criminal Case Against Jeffrey Epstein’s Prison Guards

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US prosecutors ended the criminal case against the two Manhattan prison guards tasked with guarding convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein on the night of his suicide and who admitted to falsifying records.

Federal prosecutors Thursday asked a judge to dismiss charges against Tova Noel and Michael Thomas in Manhattan following their six-month deferred prosecution deal reached in May that kept the two jailers out of jail. They instead each agreed to complete 100 hours of community service and to cooperate with federal investigators’ probe into Epstein’s death.

Noel and Thomas, who were working overtime shifts, allegedly sat just five yards from Epstein’s cell, but shopped online and took breaks instead of checking his cell every 30 minutes as required.

The guards admitted that they “willfully and knowingly” lied on forms stating that they’d made the required rounds checking on inmates the night of Epstein’s 2019 suicide. (Read more from “Slammed Shut: Prosecutors End Criminal Case Against Jeffrey Epstein’s Prison Guards” HERE)

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Judge in Ghislaine Maxwell Case Fears One Thing That Might Derail Trial

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By Daily Caller. The judge for the Ghislaine Maxwell trial informed the jury Monday that deliberations would be extended to 6 p.m., an hour longer than normal, due to concerns about the surge in the Omicron variant in New York City.

“We are seeing an astronomical spike in the number of COVID-positive cases in New York City,” Judge Alison Nathan said, according to ABC News.

“We are very simply at a different place regarding the pandemic than we were only one week ago and we now face a high and escalating risk that jurors and/or trial participants may need to quarantine,” she added, according to CNN. “Accordingly, extending deliberations by an hour gives the jury more time each day to continue to engage in its thoughtful deliberations.”

Nathan noted that she would also ask jurors to continue their deliberation through New Years without a break for the holiday, citing the risk that the trial could be disrupted by the rising coronavirus cases.

“In light of the variant, my concern about the interruption of the trial, given the increasing daily risk of exposure to either a juror or trial participant requiring quarantine — it is time to think about having the jury make plans to deliberate until a verdict is reached,” she said, according to ABC News. (Read more from “Judge in Ghislaine Maxwell Case Fears One Thing That Might Derail Trial” HERE)

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Ghislaine Maxwell Trial Judge May Have Jurors Deliberate Every Day This Week Until They Reach a Verdict

By New York Post. The jury weighing Ghislaine Maxwell’s fate revealed late Tuesday afternoon that it is “making progress” after its fourth full day of deliberations – and the judge said she may ask the panel to huddle every day this week till it reaches a verdict.

The jurors sent a note to Judge Alison Nathan about 4:45 p.m., writing they were making headway in reaching a verdict.

“Our deliberations are moving along, and we are making progress. We are at a good point,” they wrote.

They then asked to be dismissed at 5 p.m. and return Wednesday at 9 a.m.

Nathan agreed to the request — but also warned the panelists that they should be prepared to deliberate every day this week, including Friday, New Year’s Eve, until they reach a verdict. (Read more from “Ghislaine Maxwell Trial Judge May Have Jurors Deliberate Every Day This Week Until They Reach a Verdict” HERE)

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Jeffrey Epstein’s Cellmate Dishes on the Pedophile’s Final Days

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With Ghislaine Maxwell’s current trial, I’m printing what I don’t think may have been already reported. Right after Jeffrey Epstein’s death, his cellmate Bill Mersey sent me this. I’ve held it all this time and have condensed Mersey’s voluminous pages:

“If you didn’t want to kill yourself before, you would after a few days at MCC. Minus trained psychologists, it was inmates who, with a whole three hours’ training, had to watch four Suicide cells on the second floor.

“Inmates were stowed away in 50 square feet with a cellmate and nothing to do but kill themselves. No commissary or phone access. ‘Training’ was mostly ogling the female psychologist teaching it. The pay, 12 cents, up to 40 cents, an hour. . .

“Epstein was soft as a pillow and not prepared to handle this. He requested protective custody. He was scared and he did not get over it. Handling prison constantly occupied his mind. To sleep he’d place an orange prison sock over his eyes. . .

“The prison was abuzz with our new felon. He talked finance, saying, ‘Stocks are like women. You have to study to see what makes them happy. Observe their reaction to international news. Then you can predict their movements and that’s how you win.’ ” (Read more from “Jeffrey Epstein’s Cellmate Dishes on the Pedophile’s Final Days” HERE)

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Inside the Abandoned Estates Jeffrey Epstein Shared With Ghislaine Maxwell

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Amid the lurid ongoing trial of Ghislaine Maxwell, who is charged with grooming many of late pedo-perv Jeffrey Epstein’s victims, never-before-seen photos of the estates he shared with his “lady of the house” have come to light.

Two years after the disgraced financier’s death at 66 by hanging in a federal jail cell, these images — seized by officials who conducted raids into all of his homes — offer a glimpse at what’s become of Epstein’s sprawling properties, including his most off-the-radar compound located in the Virgin Islands, which remains abandoned. . .

Most notorious is Epstein’s island, commonly referred to as “pedo” island, where victims have described in detail trying to swim off the shore in shark-infested water, almost drowning to escape the abuse they faced at the hands of Epstein and his colleagues. . .

The Florida mansion in Palm Beach where prosecutors say Epstein sexually abused underage girls and women for many years was demolished in April after developer Todd Michael Glaser bought the site for $18.5 million in March. . .

Epstein’s New York townhouse — where the late pedophile once kept nude photos of girls, creepy taxidermy and a bizarre painting of Bill Clinton in a blue dress — was sold for a little under $50 million in March. (Read more from “Inside the Abandoned Estates Jeffrey Epstein Shared With Ghislaine Maxwell” HERE)

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Weird Feetish? Raunchy Photos Show Ghislaine Maxwell Getting Handsy With Epstein

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Raunchy photos show Ghislaine Maxwell giving disgraced financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein a foot massage as prosecutors unearth dozens of never-before-seen photos depicting their creepy relationship.

Maxwell is seen aboard a plane with Epstein holding his barefoot in her lap as she massages it, with Epstein appearing to be pleased. . .

In one photo, Maxwell appears to be showing Epstein and an unidentified individual her cleavage while taking a break from giving a foot massage.

The images were found during a 2019 raid at Epstein’s home on the Upper East Side, FBI analyst Kimberly Meder testified, according to the New York Post. (Read more from “Weird Feetish? Raunchy Photos Show Ghislaine Maxwell Getting Handsy With Epstein” HERE)

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Witness to Horrors: Ghislaine Maxwell Allegedly Asked Teen to Recruit Others; Second Alleged Epstein Victim Testifies in Maxwell Trial

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By New York Post. A former British model took the stand Monday to detail how she was allegedly lured into Jeffrey Epstein’s orbit by Ghislaine Maxwell at 17 — and asked to recruit other girls to give him oral sex.

The woman, identified only as “Kate” for privacy reasons, testified that the British socialite introduced her to Epstein at Maxwell’s London townhouse in the early 1990s and convinced her to give him a sexual massage soon after.

Maxwell even tried to get Kate to recruit others to give the late pedophile oral sex, telling her he liked “cute, young, pretty” girls, “like you.”

“She would ask me if I knew anybody to come and give Jeffrey a blowjob because it was a lot for her to do,” recalled Kate, who is also a former actress.

The witness, now 44, said the duo promised to help with her budding music career and bragged about the powerful people they knew, including Prince Andrew and Donald Trump. (Read more from “Witness to Horrors: Ghislaine Maxwell Allegedly Asked Teen to Recruit Others for Oral Sex” HERE)

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Second Alleged Epstein Victim Testifies in Maxwell Trial

By Washington Post. A woman who says she had a years-long sexual relationship with Jeffrey Epstein told jurors on Monday that Ghislaine Maxwell played a key role in facilitating their encounters, first telling her that Epstein was a philanthropist interested in helping young people and then encouraging her to give him massages. . .

Kate was the second alleged Epstein victim to testify in the trial. Last week, a woman who said she was 14 when the sexual encounters with Epstein began described a similar process of being groomed by Maxwell.

On Monday, Kate said she continued communicating with Epstein for years, into her 30s, including during visits to his Palm Beach, Fla., home and his private island in the Caribbean. She exchanged emails with Epstein as he was serving a jail sentence in Florida, following a controversial plea deal that resulted in a relatively lenient sentence, about a year behind bars. (Read more from “Second Alleged Epstein Victim Testifies in Maxwell Trial” HERE)

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Ghislaine Maxwell Trial: Epstein Kept Cds With Nude Photos Catalogued With Police-Style Evidence Tape

By Fox News. The FBI found a trove of photos of nude women and girls at Jeffrey Epstein’s New York City townhouse when they performed search warrants following the financier’s arrest on sex trafficking charges in July 2019. In a closet of one of the floors of the 7-story residence, the agents found boxes with CDs that contained some of those photographs with police-like yellow “evidence” tape on them, a special agent with the FBI testified at Ghislaine Maxwell’s trial.

In another room and closet, the FBI found “numerous black binders” with white labels. Special agent Kelly McGuire said the binders had “clear pages containing thumbnail photos with CDs attached.”

The witness told the tale of how the FBI searched Epstein’s $77 million New York home to the jurors. The agents buzzed but after no answer, they forced their entry to the residence and started performing a protective sweep to make sure there was no threat to them.

On the third floor, in a dressing room, they found a safe that they pulled out from a closet and brought in a saw to open it. There were several items in it that the FBI photographed such as more “binders with CDs, various items of jewelry, external hard-drives, lose diamonds, large amounts of U.S. currency and passports.” However, they needed a second search warrant in order to retrieve those items. So, they returned a few days later, except that the items that had been removed from the safe were missing. An attorney for Epstein then returned all the items to the agents. (Read more from “Ghislaine Maxwell Trial: Epstein Kept Cds With Nude Photos Catalogued With Police-Style Evidence Tape” HERE)

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PLAYING THE VICTIM: Ghislaine Maxwell’s Defense Keeps ‘Spotlight’ on Epstein, Other Powerful Men; Odd: Maxwell Makes Her Own Drawings of the Court Sketch Artists During Trial; Victim Calls Maxwell ‘Engineer of Epstein’s Abuse’

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By NBC News. The British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell is the one accused of sex trafficking, but during the first five days of testimony in a New York City courtroom her lawyers have put her deceased boss, Jeffrey Epstein, and his famous friends on trial, legal experts say.

That strategy quickly became evident on the first day of the long-awaited trial when attorney Bobbi Sternheim, in her opening statement, dipped into the book of Genesis to defend Maxwell. . .

In fact, Maxwell’s defense team is subtly trying to portray her as Epstein’s first victim, the experts said. . .

“The defense has signaled its intention to make Epstein central to this trial,” Tuerkheimer said. “By portraying him as charismatic, well-connected, almost larger than life, her team may well be hoping to make Maxwell disappear into the background. Epstein’s star-studded life of fame and riches can grab the jury’s attention and focus, increasing the odds that Maxwell appears as a merely peripheral figure in the story.” (Read more from “PLAYING THE VICTIM: Ghislaine Maxwell’s Defense Keeps ‘Spotlight’ on Epstein, Other Powerful Men” HERE)

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Odd: Maxwell Makes Her Own Drawings of the Court Sketch Artists During Trial

By New York Post. Turns out Ghislaine Maxwell really is a sketch artist.

New York-based Illustrator Elizabeth Williams has 40 years of experience drawing people in court but says it was a first when Maxwell, on trial for sex-trafficking, started sketching her.

Williams was at Maxwell’s November pre-trial hearing when she said the British heiress, seated between her two lawyers, looked back at her and began staring while apparently drawing her, the Sun reported Friday. She did it a second time during jury selection.

Fellow illustrator Jane Rosenberg, who’s also at the Maxwell trial and was also drawn by Maxwell, created a picture of the weird encounter that went viral.

“It was like she didn’t think anyone would notice,” Williams said of the initial staring and drawing encounters. “She stared right at us, and it was definitely an odd moment. (Read more from “Odd: Maxwell Makes Her Own Drawings of the Court Sketch Artists During Trial” HERE)

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Victim Calls Maxwell ‘Engineer of Epstein’s Abuse’ as Trial Resumes Today

By The Independent UK. The trial of Ghislaine Maxwell, a British socialite and former partner of Jeffrey Epstein, is set to resume today.

Ms Maxwell, 59, is accused of grooming teenage girls for abuse by the late convicted sex-offender and financier. She has pleaded not guilty to all charges against her. . .

One of the sexual abuse survivors, Sarah Ransome — who says she was repeatedly raped by Epstein over a nine-month period — described Ms Maxwell as a “very sick woman” who took pleasure in “humiliating” her victims. . .

Ms Ransome said: “Ghislaine enjoyed humiliating us. You could see the enjoyment in her face.” (Read more from “Victim Calls Maxwell ‘Engineer of Epstein’s Abuse’ as Trial Resumes Today” HERE)

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Trial Day 4: Epstein’s Former Housekeeper: Ghislaine Maxwell Was ‘Lady of the House’; Jeffrey Epstein’s Little Black Book Makes Its Courtroom Debut

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By New York Post. Jeffrey Epstein’s longtime housekeeper on Thursday testified that Ghislaine Maxwell was the “lady of the house” at the powerful pedophile’s Florida mansion — and that countless young women hung out there, including two who appeared to be minors.

Juan Alessi dished about working for the late financier in Palm Beach for more than a decade, telling a Manhattan jury he saw “many, many, many females” in their 20s socializing with Epstein and Maxwell, usually topless.

Alessi recalled seeing two girls who appeared to be minors over the course of his employment, which ended in 2002. He identified one of the two as “Jane,” — a Maxwell accuser who testified earlier this week — describing her as a “striking, beautiful” girl who looked to be around 14 or 15.

The other minor, Alessi said, was Virginia Roberts Giuffre, who has accused both Epstein and Maxwell of sex-trafficking her when she was a teenager.

Alessi described how Maxwell first met Giuffre in the parking lot of Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort, where she ordered him to stop the car so she could hop out to talk to the young blonde. (Read more from “Epstein’s Former Housekeeper: Ghislaine Maxwell Was ‘Lady of the House’” HERE)

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Jeffrey Epstein’s Little Black Book Makes Its Courtroom Debut

By Slate. On day four of the Ghislaine Maxwell trial, government exhibit 52 made its much anticipated debut. This is Jeffrey Epstein’s “little black book”—the telephone directory containing names and numbers for a huge roster of Epstein’s wealthy and powerful friends, and also, presumably, some of the people who’ve accused him of crimes.

The book was introduced as the prosecution’s witness Juan Alessi was on the stand. Alessi was the butler/driver/go-fer at Epstein’s Palm Beach house from around 1991 until 2002. He described the decadent atmosphere around the mansion, which he said was run “like a five-star hotel.” He was expected to keep wads of hundred dollar bills stocked in each of Epstein’s cars at all times. He said there were many women who hung around Epstein’s pool, and that they were topless “75-80 percent of the time.” He said Maxwell, who he called the “lady of the house,” took many photos of these topless women, and displayed them in frames on her desk there. He also said it was obvious that Maxwell was in charge of running the household. And she slept in Epstein’s bedroom, with Epstein. . .

A lot of these details were vital to the prosecution’s case. But for the story beyond the story—the curiosity around Jeffrey Epstein, how he got his wealth, what he knew about his famous friends—the little black book was the real object of interest. A prosecutor took it out of its own dedicated accordion file, handed it around for the defense team and judge to inspect, and then brought it up to Alessi on the witness stand. He identified it as the kind of address book that would be at Epstein’s house, and he said he recognized many of the entries.

Before the start of the trial, NPR reported that prosecutors say the information in the book “will help establish who and what Maxwell knew—including ‘an inference that the defendant knew that at least some of these individuals were minors.’” But we got no juicy details from the little black book today. No boldface names. It’s possible we never will. The prosecution seems to want to put a heavily redacted version of it into evidence. There were long sidebar arguments about what could be admitted, and why. As the lawyers jawed at each other, Alessi, still on the stand, just casually flipped through the book’s pages, perusing them with interest. (Read more from “Jeffrey Epstein’s Little Black Book Makes Its Courtroom Debut” HERE)

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Report: Jeffrey Epstein Visited Clinton White House at Least 17 Times

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Jeffrey Epstein visited the White House at least 17 times in the early years of President Bill Clinton’s administration, according to a new report published Thursday.

Visitor logs show the wealthy convicted pedophile — who died from an apparent suicide in his jail cell in 2019 – even visited the Clinton White House twice on the same day three different times, The Daily Mail reported.

In one visit on Sept. 29, 1993, Epstein attended an event where he and his alleged madam Ghislaine Maxwell were photographed alongside Clinton after the financier donated $10,000 to help renovate the building.

It’s not clear if Epstein, who killed himself in his jail cell in 2019, actually met or interacted with Clinton during his other visits, and the former president wasn’t in the building for at least a few of Epstein’s trips there, the Mail said.

The visitor logs, obtained by the Mail through a request with the Clinton Presidential library, showed Epstein first visiting the White House on Feb. 25, 1993 – a little more than a month after the Democrat first took office. During that visit, his destination was listed as “WW” — apparently the West Wing – and his invitation was issued by “Rubin,” according to the report. (Read more from “Report: Jeffrey Epstein Visited Clinton White House at Least 17 Times” HERE)

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Schoolgirl Outfits, Gifts to Teens, Sex Abuse ‘Every Day’: Feds Slam Ghislaine Maxwell on 1st Day of Trial; The Bible, ‘Manipulated’ Victims and a ‘Scapegoat’: Maxwell Lawyer Reveals Strategy

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By Daily Beast. They were young girls who dreamed of becoming professional musicians, or models, or actresses—but they often came from poor families and their parents needed money. They were the perfect targets for a pair of high-society “predators” who dazzled them with fabulous wealth and promised them the world—and who then allegedly groomed, molested, and raped them.

Such was the story presented by federal prosecutors on the first day of Ghislaine Maxwell’s trial in connection to multimillionaire Jeffrey Epstein’s sex-trafficking ring. . .

The jury will hear from Epstein’s pilots, household staff, members of law enforcement, and a former employee of the multimillionaire. Evidence in the trial will include “a schoolgirl outfit,” flight logs, and FedEx records showing Epstein’s gifts to a girl who was only 15 years old. . .

Prosecutors called Maxwell Epstein’s “best friend and right hand” in court on Monday. “She preyed on vulnerable young girls, manipulated them, and served them up to be abused… That is what this trial is all about,” said Assistant U.S. Attorney Lara Pomerantz. She claimed Maxwell was drawn to Epstein’s life of luxury, which included sumptuous private homes in New Mexico, New York, and Paris, a private island, private planes, and astounding wealth. (Read more from “Schoolgirl Outfits, Gifts to Teens, Sex Abuse ‘Every Day’: Feds Slam Ghislaine Maxwell on 1st Day of Trial” HERE)

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Prosecutor Tells Jury Ghislaine Maxwell Groomed Minors for Epstein’s Sexual Abuse

By NBC News. The much-anticipated trial of Ghislaine Maxwell got underway Monday in New York City with a prosecutor and defense attorney painting conflicting portraits of the accused enabler of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Assistant United States Attorney Lara Pomerantz, who gave the federal prosecutors’ opening statement, said Maxwell identified and targeted vulnerable young women and then “served them up” to Epstein.

“She put them at ease and made them feel safe, all so that they could be sexually abused by a middle-aged man,” Pomerantz said. “There were times when she was in the room when it happened.”

Maxwell was no mere Epstein employee, Pomerantz said. She was “the lady of the house” who made sure that what happened behind closed doors stayed behind closed doors. And she and Epstein “had a playbook.”

“First they got access to young girls,” the prosecutor said. “Then they gained their trust.” (Read more from “Prosecutor Tells Jury Ghislaine Maxwell Groomed Minors for Epstein’s Sexual Abuse” HERE)

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Ghislaine Maxwell’s Lawyer Reveals Defense Strategy: The Bible, ‘Manipulated’ Victims and a ‘Scapegoat’

By New York Post. Ghislaine Maxwell’s defense attorneys on Monday portrayed her as a scapegoat being accused because of “the bad behavior of men,” — one in particular — since prosecutors never had a chance to put late pedophile Jeffrey Epstein on trial.

Her lawyer, Bobbi Sternheim, invoked the Bible at the start of her opening statement, arguing that women have been condemned for crimes committed by men since the beginning of time.

“Ever since Eve was accused of tempting Adam with the apple,” said Sternheim. “Women have been blamed for the bad behavior of men.”

“Ghislaine is on trial here and you heard about the conduct of Jeffrey Epstein. She is filling that hole. And filling an empty chair,” said Sternheim, adding that her client was a “convenient stand-in” for the dead sex offender.

Sternheim also took aim at the four alleged victims in the case, claiming they had been taken advantage of by aggressive civil defense attorneys and, in some cases, are searching for a payday. (Read more from “Ghislaine Maxwell’s Lawyer Reveals Defense Strategy: The Bible, ‘Manipulated’ Victims and a ‘Scapegoat’” HERE)

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